Filling Propane Tanks
Over the past few years whenever I take my propane tanks from my trailer to be filled, the person doing the filling always opened a vent on the tank valve with a screwdriver as he/she was adding propa...
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Worthington tanks. Costco. Around 1985.
Had the tanks "filled" in Nogales in January. Cold weather demands propane not butane. Tanks were carried in open bed of pickup.
Got to near the turnoff to San Blas. Temperature in the high 80's.
One relief valve popped. I pulled over on the exit lane the beginning of the toll road to Tepic. Shut the engine off and exited the truck.
Several minutes later the 2nd tank relief valve vented but it was not a controlled release - it was a catastrophic venting. Emptied the tank in under a half minute. The first tank took something like 3 or 4 minutes to empty.
Both valves were ruined.
A friend, who was a propane installation guru before he retired quipped "Venting too frequently ruins valves and allows 100% discharge of contents". Worthington tank said exactly the same thing a few months later.
My 83 gallon motorfuel tank* on Quicksilver has a full size relief valve and so does my 100 pound cylinder - "Vince" said 100 pound cylinders with this type of relief valve (a brass hex around 2" across) are rare as hen's teeth.
*It serves solely as vapor duty
Sure spooked me. Mixed with air in just the wrong way, propane makes a Fuel Air Explosive that makes dynamite look like a ladyfinger.
Since OPD type tanks refuse to fill down here, I have no OPD 20 lb pots. Gas depots fill by weight and they do open the liquid level valve. With two quarts of process oil inside a tank, using tare weight only is hazardous.
Oil? Ever pick up a really heavy empty pot? Those lube oils used in refinery process streams to lube valves and pumps eventually turns to goo inside the pot, cylinder or tank. MEK, or lacquer thinner will dissolve the goo. A quart for a 20 lb pot, a gallon for a 100 lb cylinder.
Process oil/goo absorbs LPG odorant. Spilled oil will smell like an intense propane leak. Skin, clothes, wood, soil, water, all absorb the smelly goo. Tank cleaning is obnoxiously demanding because of how to deal with the smell.
Had the tanks "filled" in Nogales in January. Cold weather demands propane not butane. Tanks were carried in open bed of pickup.
Got to near the turnoff to San Blas. Temperature in the high 80's.
One relief valve popped. I pulled over on the exit lane the beginning of the toll road to Tepic. Shut the engine off and exited the truck.
Several minutes later the 2nd tank relief valve vented but it was not a controlled release - it was a catastrophic venting. Emptied the tank in under a half minute. The first tank took something like 3 or 4 minutes to empty.
Both valves were ruined.
A friend, who was a propane installation guru before he retired quipped "Venting too frequently ruins valves and allows 100% discharge of contents". Worthington tank said exactly the same thing a few months later.
My 83 gallon motorfuel tank* on Quicksilver has a full size relief valve and so does my 100 pound cylinder - "Vince" said 100 pound cylinders with this type of relief valve (a brass hex around 2" across) are rare as hen's teeth.
*It serves solely as vapor duty
Sure spooked me. Mixed with air in just the wrong way, propane makes a Fuel Air Explosive that makes dynamite look like a ladyfinger.
Since OPD type tanks refuse to fill down here, I have no OPD 20 lb pots. Gas depots fill by weight and they do open the liquid level valve. With two quarts of process oil inside a tank, using tare weight only is hazardous.
Oil? Ever pick up a really heavy empty pot? Those lube oils used in refinery process streams to lube valves and pumps eventually turns to goo inside the pot, cylinder or tank. MEK, or lacquer thinner will dissolve the goo. A quart for a 20 lb pot, a gallon for a 100 lb cylinder.
Process oil/goo absorbs LPG odorant. Spilled oil will smell like an intense propane leak. Skin, clothes, wood, soil, water, all absorb the smelly goo. Tank cleaning is obnoxiously demanding because of how to deal with the smell.
